Irrational Games to Close After BioShock Infinite DLC - Update

[Vivi22]

Well, this seems rather irrational.

I'll see myself out...

OT: Seriously, what the hell. Infinite was WAY too successful to justify closing the studio without a good reason. We need some form of justification for this, just to see what is going on inside levine's head.

did you actually read the article or just the headline?
they are not closing, they let most people go and 15 people will stay with levine at take two under some other name and keep doing shit. the headline should have been "irrational to fire a bunch of people, rebrand"

the best thing about infinite was the story and the feel of the world, i assume you can do that with a smaller studio

Firing almost your entire staff and closing down a studio completely are so damn close together that you're basically arguing semantics here. Fact is, Irrational as it existed will no longer be around and a lot of people are losing their jobs because apparently Levine thought that was a better solution than just having them work on something else while he put some time into testing a new idea with a small group, or just leaving himself and starting a new team either with another publisher or independently.

So probably a minimum of 100+ people are now out of a job because Levine didn't want to make big titles any more? Nice guy.

 

[unstabLized]

I'm surprised, and well.. Worried. I know that Bioshock will probably not die and will go under new reigns but I will be very very picky with the new games. I loved Bioshock 1 and Infinite, as well as the DLCs, and I liked Irrational and Ken Levine as a developer. I know a lot of people are saying he's a dick and why didn't he just leave and all, but it probably roots deeper. The company I work at laid off 1000 people across Canada a couple of days ago with no warning whatsoever because they wanted to, just like that. Of course, laid off doesn't mean fired, so the people who got laid off get taken care of for a few months before finding a new job.

 

[Galen Marek]

did you actually read the article or just the headline?
they are not closing, they let most people go and 15 people will stay with levine at take two under some other name and keep doing shit. the headline should have been "irrational to fire a bunch of people, rebrand"

the best thing about infinite was the story and the feel of the world, i assume you can do that with a smaller studio

I'm pretty sure if they are making a new studio it means the current studio is closing.

So yes, Irrational Games is closing as it will cease to exist.

Not that it makes much sense given the studio was doing poorly. Why not split into two separate teams in which both develop unique games? There are many new business models they could follow.

I feel there is more too this that we are missing.

 

[Callate]

Wow, NOBODY is reading this article...

Take-Two will also be help those displaced find opportunities within other studios at the publisher.

Nobody is getting laid off or fired. They're getting reassigned to other studios. Still a surprising move, but he's not a dick for doing it.

People read what they want to read. Let them bask in their own willful ignorance, as their preconceived notions will not get them very far.

No, people are reading the article; they're just not making the assumptions you are.

"Help those displaced find opportunities within other studios at the publisher" is not a guarantee of a job. It doesn't guarantee there will actually be slots within those other studios for the persons laid off to fill, it doesn't promise that the displaced persons' salaries or seniority within the organization will be intact even if there is a new job to fill, and it doesn't mean that a texture artist or lead programmer isn't going to be given the option of taking a $9/hour part-time testing position or hitting the road.

"Help to find" is not a legally binding promise of results. "Laid off" is a reality.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

A smaller studio making games for core gamers mainly focused on story. I'm quite intrigued. Infinite was definitely all about the story and the characters (mainly Elizabeth) so if they cut all the AAA fat off and focus on what makes their games great then I think it'll turn out very well for us.

 

[Amir Kondori]

That was unexpected, sounds like something major after how successful the studio has been. I wonder if the had a big falling out or something.

I doubt there was a falling out, as he is staying with Take 2, something that otherwise would not be happening by a long shot. I think he got burnt out on big AAA stuff working on Infinite, as I watched an hour long talk he gave where he spoke about people leaving and almost giving up himself on making the game work the way they wanted it to work with Elizabeth.
I think this will be a good thing and we will see some interesting things from him and his small team in the future.

 

[ShakerSilver]

Maybe Levine should have just left with his 15 people to make their own studio and leave everyone else still with a job.

At least now 2K can develop Bioshock again. I'll take another sequel like Bioshock 2 than Infinite any day.

 

[TallanKhan]

I find myself wondering what kind of project Ken Levine is planning to run with which will only require 15 people.

While i am somewhat dismayed by the idea that this might mean no more Bioshock games, i have to admit if this signals a move away from AAA production and the bloated production budgets that go with it, i think think could be a good thing.

 

[Gamer87]

I agree with ShakerSilver, Bioshock 2 is my favourite out of the three games. If 2K now have the rights to Bioshock and is going to "milk it" by "churning out" more games of Bioshock 2's caliber, I'm quite happy with that.

Ken Levine is brilliant, but I do get a little George Lucas vibe from him, so this is good news... I think... time will tell.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

It's so strange. It looks like he wants some kind of independence, though not "indie" as he's willing to stay underneath the same publisher. I don't get it, he could have just grabbed 15 of his favorite guys to make a sub-team for his artsy pet project while the rest of the team worked on another Bioshock game (considering he doesn't give a fuck what 2K does with the IP). I get that this kind of thing happens after a big project winds down, but in my mind I thought "Irrational" meant something, like they were a family, like they were above "fuck it, lets fire 130 people".

I'd also say this doesn't bode well for the end of Burial at Sea. The first episode already finished right as it was picking up steam, imagine how awkward working on the second one is/was...the director doesn't want to do it anymore and has his mind on whether to go indie or fire the team, the team feels a weird tension and aren't sure how many of them are working on their last "thing" as Irrational Games...I wonder if that dynamic will come through in the DLC. Irrational indeed.

 

[Norix596]

Feel pretty bad for all the staff who worked for a much longer than usual development cycle to be laid off after it was a bit hit, but a least it probably looks good on a resume to have worked long and hard on one of last year's best selling and reviewed games.

 

[Strazdas]

Now that i did not expect. Yet it seems like its just the core going on a new project and firing others. for once i am truly sad that people got fired.

Probably also has something to do with it taking 6 years to make Bioshock Infinite and it selling less well than Bioshock 2 which was a cheap and quick sequel.

I had to doublecheck that and you are correct. Damn this is sad to hear. The quick cashgrab got more sales than the actually good game. I guess sequel inertial was still very much around back in 2010.
damn they only sold 3.34 millions total.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

If the guy wants to make different kinds of games, it's for creative freedom's sake that he fired those people. Do you have to make big games that need 200 people to put out for ever if you make one of them that's a hit? Can't people just have various artistic visions?


I mean, it sucks for the people out of job but with Bioshock in their resumes they should be able to eventually find other jobs. It's what happens when your skills are no longer needed where you work, it happened when machines replaced factory workers and it happens here too.

 

[putowtin]

"Right chaps, we just made one of the most successful games of 2013, so without further ado I'd like to start work on my next big project, which means your all fired!"

I get you want to try something new Ken, but do a Molyneux, leave a studio behind that can coninue producing a product that the consumer wants and go play with a box somewhere quiet!

 

[havoc33]

That was unexpected, sounds like something major after how successful the studio has been. I wonder if the had a big falling out or something.

I would guess that full blown AAA production is just too expensive/trouble, so they are gonna focus on smaller project, has I think $20 to $40 release, that you continue to support with DLC after, might have more business sense then $60 release.

This is exactly the reason why. Maybe now the people can start to understand that the push for the neverending better graphics and more powerful hardware ultimately is killing our industry. How many companies have we heard now speak out about the trouble with AAA gaming? Just because some titles sell well does not mean that the business model itself is healthy. The risks are just too big. We are paying the consequences now, with several talented studios that have shut down in the last couple of years.

Here's hoping that at least this could spur a stream of really inventive smaller titles. I wouldn't mind going back to what worked in the past either. Seeing a return of pre-rendered backdrops in games such as Final Fantasy and Resident Evil would be most welcome. It allows the developer to create at vast and inspired world without the crazy costs of rendering it all in high definition 3D.

 

[havoc33]

Havoc, I don't think the people on the escapist (or most gaming news sites) are the ones who mindlessly push for better graphics.

I, and most of the people I know, would not mind something inbetween the endless droves of AAA and indie/nostalgic cash-ins.

Yeah, people here at the escapist are not too bad in this regard, but the average gamer is. Whenever reports like this arise, they just keep screaming "BUT YOU SOLD 4 MILLION COPIES YOU IDIOT, DON'T COME HERE AND SAY YOU DIDN'T EARN ANY MONEY". It's always the developers fault, even though our entitlement and demand for higher tech is helping killing games and studios that we love. I find it extremely concerning to read how big name developers are quitting, not only because it's becoming increasingly difficult to earn money, but also because of the stress that comes from working under such intense scrutiny, that being from both the publishers and rabid fans that seem to complain about everything. This is why games will never be considered art; we somehow got it in our heads that OUR opinions should be what decides how games turn out, not the artistic vision of the creator.

 

[J Tyran]

Havoc, I don't think the people on the escapist (or most gaming news sites) are the ones who mindlessly push for better graphics.

I, and most of the people I know, would not mind something inbetween the endless droves of AAA and indie/nostalgic cash-ins.

More do that you would think though, think of all of the poo slinging at the Xbone because the native resolutions are lower than the PS4.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Ken..if you announce System Shock 3 as a PC exclusive I will forgive you for doing this. Yeah? No? Ok.

I really doubt we will see any more games in the Bioshock universe so I'm quite saddened by this.

Seems quite a selfish move, but maybe I am blaming the wrong person (firing 185 people is a bummer), maybe Take-Two is to blame because they've invested so much money in Bioshock Infinite and it was in development for a very long time and they haven't got their money back.

 

[Evonisia]

Surprising would be a massive understatement for this. So is he just firing a whole bunch of people out of spite so he can achieve his dreams? Was there a massive falling out or battle of artistic integrity at Irrational?

 

[Vizanto]

So according to this

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/211139/Irrational_Games_journalism_and_airing_dirty_laundry.php

Levine's statement that they're just downsizing was almost all positive spin. The real story seems to be the usual situation, something that Jim Sterling has been very vocal about: another AAA company that let it's studio go too over budget and when it didn't make Call of Duty-level money they could only consider it a failure.

I guess this is what we call, The New Normal.